Viola Davis Makes An Entrance In This Tension-Filled How To Get Away With Murder Preview

Even if you didn't know that Shonda Rhimes was involved in ABC's new drama How To Get Away With Murder, you might guess as much about ten seconds into the the above clip, as the tension begins to mount in a scene that doesn't seem like it should be full of tension. A young law student walks into a lecture hall and people are freaking out, some actually on the edge of their assigned seats waiting for this "How To Get Away With Murder" class to begin.

Enter the amazing Viola Davis, who's playing Professor Annalise Keating in Peter Nowalk's How To Get Away With Murder, which lists Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers as executive producers. The moment Davis introduces yourself, we sort of understand why everyone's on edge. And now we want to see what happens next, which is a good thing!

The series also stars Alfred Encoch, whom you may or may not recognize as Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter films.

Here's the official episode synopsis....

The brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) gets entangled with four law students from her class, “How to Get Away with Murder.” Little do they know that they will have to apply what they learned to real life, in this masterful, sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, executive producers of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal.”

And here's the trailer, which merges sex, murder, law and a bit of scandal...

It's fitting that ABC would set How To Get Away With Murder on Thursday night, as the new drama caps off three hours of Shonda Rhimes-y goodness for the evening, with Grey's Anatomy airing at 8:00 p.m., followed by Scandal at 9:00 p.m. and then finally, this new series.